I have recently bought the above dvd recorder, having established prior to purchase that I could record to both -R and +R dvd. (I had a stock of +R discs left from my old dvd recorder which I wanted to be able to use)

I am trying to write to a +R at present but am a little confused by the manual which seems to say that it will not record in 16:9 on a +R disc only 4:3.

Does anyone know if this is the case, or otherwise please

I expect as per normal with Panasonics bad use of terminalogy when it comes to the 4:3 and 16:9 situation.

It will be the case that the wide screen switching flag is not recorded when using DVD+R discs.

So the picture will be proper anamorphic widescreen it will just be te TV doesn't automatically switch to widescreen.

You have to manually change the aspect ratio of the TV picture.

Hope that helps.

Hope you are right - however when I tried to test it I got a message come up that the +R needed formatting - selected the format option, only for it to flash unformat on front of box at me for the next 10 hrs.

Why do +R need formatting - didn't in my old Philips?

Does it work?

The +R discs do need formatting but it should only take a minute to do and maybe less on my 77.

What make of discs are you using, the only +R discs I have are TDK and are working fine.

I did get some Infiniti dual layer discs but they will only work when recording in slow speed, if I use high speed copy they are corrupt 75% of the time. I would avoid those.

I've recorded from Sky onto +RW, it plays back in 4.3 but the picture in elongated, my tv is a Panasonic TXLXD 700 LCD have it set to auto on aspect ratio, when I switch to 16.9 the picture is still elongated, I 'm not sure what to do, checked all the settings on the EX77 the aspect is set to 16.9, yet when I play it back on a Pioneer DVD player on another tv it displays in proper widescreen, strange.

Can someone clarify this? My current (loathed) Phillips recorder has finally bitten the dust (yay!) by locking a disc into its innards and never letting it out under any circumstances. I'd like to replace with a Panasonic as they seem far and away the most robust and reliable, but the widescreen +r thing puts me off. I've read the manual, but given the experiences here I am still confused. So the question...

Can a modern generation Panasonic record a picture in anamorphic, even if it needs manually switching on a TV to unsquish it? Many thanks.

The old Panasonic main models have just been dropped and the new ones are shifting into retailers now [ EX78 / 88 ]

As yet, detail of this sort in not available regarding the new models.

However ... Panasonics have always had much greater depth of support for -R type discs rather than + types and they should always be used in preference where possible.

But to specifically answer your question - it is yes.... with the current models ... and it is only likely to improve with the new.

Thanks hugely Gavtech, much appreciated.

I've just donated my old E85H to my parents after replacing it with a newer model- they only have a widescreen TV so will it actually be suitable for them? I never used it with a widescreen so that didn't occur to me.

Hi Katie

There is one setting that will require changing.

Goto Functions / To others / Setup / Connections / TV aspect... and select 16:9 Widescreen

Thanks, I will pass that on to them.